42 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the equatorial and tropical regions, nor in the south of Europe as 

 much as in the north and center. 



Nationality is not intrinsically a factor in science. Nevertheless, 

 some nations have in their geographical situation, their extent, lan- 

 guage, customs, or other incidental circumstances, features which are 

 more or less favorable to science than corresponding features in other 

 nations. The rank in representation in the academies has fluctuated 

 variously between England, France, and Germany during the two cent- 

 uries, while the smaller nations, like Holland, Switzerland, and the 

 Scandinavian states, have, in proportion to their population, more than 

 held their own in the competition with them. Switzerland seems to 

 hold an extraordinary and constant superiority. Some of the reasons 

 for this have been already explained. Another reason is to be found 

 in the fact, which is brought out in the investigation, that a small 

 country is on the whole more favorable to science than a large one. 



If public institutions could really furnish incitements to scientific 

 researches and promote their success, large countries would have a 

 manifest advantage. In other words, there should regularly be more 

 illustrious savants to the million souls in a great nation than in a small 

 one. The facts as revealed by statistics are of contrary import, and 

 it is not impossible to divine why this is so. There are in a small coun- 

 try, so far as concerns science, two advantages which may afford am- 

 ple offsets to the lucrative places and honorary distinctions of large 

 countries. One of the advantages is the relatively smaller importance 

 of all public functions. In a small country, the careers of the army, 

 the magistracy, and the administration can offer only moderate tempta- 

 tions to youth who feel themselves capable. If they aspire to a Euro- 

 pean reputation, science is the best means within their reach by which 

 to obtain it. The public comprehends this, and, as it desires the value 

 of the country to be measured by some other standard than that of 

 the extent of its territory, it gives a moral support to men who seek to 

 distinguish themselves in affairs purely intellectual. And this support 

 of opinion, which is quite sensible in very small states, like Denmark 

 and the Swiss cantons, comprehends also the advantage that men of 

 merit prefer to remain in their country ; and they preserve there their 

 good influence and their wholesome traditions, instead of removing to 

 the capitals of great states. 



Furthermore, small countries touch upon other states at all points, 

 or are, we might say, all frontiers. One can not live in one of them 

 without making frequent comparisons with the institutions, laws, and 

 usages of adjacent countries. This alone is a cause of intellectual ac- 

 tivity, and profits to the cultivation of science. The vicinity of nation- 

 al boundaries has also the excellent effect of rendering a complete 

 tyranny impossible. It is very easy for persecuted persons to escape 

 from a country of small extent and live at peace in an adjoining state. 

 This has often been seen in Switzerland, and was observed in Germany 



